Milking-machine.



Witm ss s EM 0122a D. ALFVEN.

MILKING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.18, 1912.

Patented July 2, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

D. ALFVEN. MILKING MACHINE. APPLIOATION TILED JAN. 18, 1912.

1,031,503. Patented July 2, 1912.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET Z.

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DAVID ALFVEN, or s'rocxnonir, swnnmr.

MILKING-MA CHINE.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Application filed January 18, 1912. Serial No. 671,798.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID ALFvr'iN, a citizen of the Kingdom of Sweden,residing at Stockholm, Sweden, have invented new and useful Improvementsin Milking-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to milking machines in which the milking memberspress the teats against adjustable. plates. In order in such milkingmachines to obtain effective milking of all of the teats these platesmust each be so adjusted that each teat is subjected to the mostsuitable pressure, a thick teat requiring to be compressed with greaterpressure than a thin tea-t. This adjustment is diflicult to effectcorrectly in practice and takes time. This is a disadvantage whichprevents the general use of the machines in question. This disadvantageis completely avoided by the present invention in which the teatpressing plates are so arranged that they are automatically adjusted todifferent positions in such wise that the teats are compressed with agreater or smaller pressure according to their thickness.

The invention resides mainly in this that the teat plates are connectedby a lever system in pairs after the manner of a balance with variablebeam arms in which the teat plates form the scales, the ivot or pivotsof the separate beam arms o the lever system being adjustable in suchwise that the teat plates can be moved into and out of operativeposition by adjustment of these plvots. This adjustment may be effectedby adjusting arms or the like which may form parts of a third balancesystem with varlable beam arms, in which system the pivot for the beamis mounted on a movable rod or the likeso that on the one hand all theteat plates can be brought at once from operative into inoperativeposition and vice versa and on the other hand the two pairs of teatplates can adjust themselves relatively to one another according to thedifferent total pressures acting thereon.

In the accompanying drawing which shows a few embodiments of theinvention, Figure 1 is a vertical section of a milking machine, most ofthe parts which form no part of the invention being omitted. Fig. 2 is aplan and part horizontal section of the same machine, several partsbeing omitted. .Fig. 3 shows a'detail. Figs. 4, 5 and 6 each showembodiments. in perspective.

- brackets 69 on the plates.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic illustration of the lnvention.

Referring to Fig. 7 a and 6 denote two teat plates. It is assumed thatthese are 'movableat right angles to their planes in suitable guides. Toeach plate is pivotally secured a rod (1 or e'andthese rods are eachpivotally connected at their ends to a balance beam f which rolls on thecurved face of a body 9 secured to a rod h which is adapted to be movedto and from. It is assumed that the two teats i and is are of differentthickness and therefore ought to be compressed with different pressures.vWhen the plates a and b are moved by means of the rod it toward theteats z and 7c into the operative position denoted by full lines and themembers Z and m compressing the teats against the plates a and I) movetoward the teats, the thicker teat '5 is only affected. In consequenceof the resistance which this offers to compression the beam f turns asdenoted bydotted lines until the thinner teat k is compressed betweenits plate and themember m. The

swinging motion-of the beam stops as soon as the-pressures'pn the two.platesbalance one another. Since the pivot of the beam moves on thebody g during the swinging motion of the beam toward the rod d, whichcarries the plate for the thicker teat and the length of the balancearms is thus varied, the pressure on the thicker teat or on its plate isalways balanced by a smaller pressure on the thinner teat or its plate.The amount of variation of the balancing arms depends on the form of thecurved surface of the body and this is calculated, a.

from experiments. All the embodiments shown in the drawings areconstructed on this principle.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the teat plates 1, 2, 3 and at which aremovable in guides 5 at right angles to their planes are'connected inpairs with one another by means of levers 7 and 8 or 9 and 10 engagingin The pivots 11 and 12 of the levers 7 and 8 are secured to a pivotedarm Hadapted to swing, for ex Patented July 2, 1 912.

ample, about the actuating shaft 13 of the machine, while the pivots 15and 16 of, the levers and 10 are secured to another arm 17 likewiseadapted to swing on the shaft13. The arms 14 and 17 are connected withone another in the manner hereinafter described.

The levers and 8 engage by means of -gagc, by means of teeth 20 and 21.

teeth 18 and 19 which during the motion of the'levers roll on oneanother so that their point of contact moves toward one or the other ofthe two pivot-s 11 and 12 according as the one or other plate is firstaffected. I11 the same manner the levers 9 and 10151111- e outer ends ofthe arms 14, 17 are connected with one another by a link 22 which isprovided with an extended opening 23 in whlch engages a pin 24 which issecured to a rod 25. This rod may be moved to and fro in a guide 26(Fig. 3). The guide 26 is pivoted on a downwardly directed bracket 28 onthe plate 27. By means of the rod 25 the two adjusting arms 14, 17 aremoved to and fro as a result of which all the teat plates 1, 2, 3 and 4can be moved at one time toward and from the teats. The link 22 acts asa balance beam since the turning movements acting during milking on theadjusting arm are transmitted to the two ends of the link. If theseturning movements are unequal then the link swings about the pivot 24.Since the turning movements are unequal, if the teats of the onepairtogether are thicker thanthe teats of the other pair, and a smallerpressure on the latter ought to balance a greater pressure on theformer, the pin 24 is of oval cross section so that the lengths of thearms of the balance formed by the link are varied on swinging motion ofthe link. To the above mentioned bracket 28 is pivotally attached an arm29 which carries .at its free end a nut 30. This arm serves tosecure'the rod 25 against the pressure acting on the pin 24 during milkmwith a fork 31 serving to receive the arm 29 and adapted to bear againstthe nut 30. The plate 27 is provided in theusual manner with openings 32for the tea-ts.

The modus opera-adv; of the above described arrangement is as follows:After the machine is suspended from the cow in the usual manner, theteat plates 1, 2, 3 and 4 are moved forward toward the teats by 14/qmeans of the rod 25 which then is secured in the corresponding plates,for example, those' denoted by 1 and 3, these being moved and by meansof the levers 7 and 8 and 9 and 10, moving forward'the plates 2 and 4until the thinner teats are pressed against these with a pressure whichbalances the pressure on the plates 1 and 3. 'Should it happen that theteats are not being compressed with sufficient pressure it is onlynecessary to move The rod 25 is to this end providedthe rod 25 by meansof tiieznut 30 in the same direction as in the former adjustment untilthe desired compression is obtained.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the lovers 34, 35, 36, 37 which areintended to actuate the, teat plates, are pivotally arranged on a shaft38, which may, if desired, be the actuatin shaft of the machine. Thelevers are f01'1.6d as bell crank levers and may with their one endsengage in'the teat platesin the same manner as the levers 7, 8,- 9, 10in Figs. 1 and 2, while their other ends are connected with theadjust-ing rod 39 in the manner hereinafter described. The two bellcrank levers 34, 35 are connected by means of links 40 or 41 with theends of a double armed lever 42. The bell crank levers 36, 37 areconnected in the samemannor by means of links 43, 44 with the ends of adouble armed lever 45. The levers have in the middle an extended openingin which engages a pin 46 of oval form. One of these pins is secured ina link 47 which is pivotally connected with one end of a double ari'nedlever 48, while the other pin 46 is connected by a link 49 with theother end of the same lever 48. The lever 48 has at its center anextended opening in which engages a pin 50 of oval form. This pin issecured in the adjusting rod 39. The modus opcramli is as follows: Whenthe teat plates connected with the levers 34, 35 are affected bydifferent pressures-the lever 42 swings about its pivot 46 until thepressures on the teat plates balance one another. In the same manner thelever 45 will swing about its pivot 46- when the pressures acting on theteat plates connected with the levers 37 and 38 aredifferent. vWhen thetotal pres-- sures on the two levers 42, 45, are unequal,

the lever 48 will move about its pivot 50 in the same manner as the link22 in Fig. 2.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 5 the arms 51, 52, 53, 54, which are tobe connected with the teat plates are mounted on a common shaft 38. Thehub portions of the two arms 51, 52, are connected with one another by adouble armed lever 55, the pivot 56 of which is secured to anintermediate disk 57 rotatable on the shaft 38. In the same manner thehub portions of the two arms 53, 54, are connected with one another rodarranged in the same manner as the rod 25 in Figs. 2 and 3. The pivotsof the levers 55,58 and 60 are of oval form and engage in extendedopenings in the levers so that the lengths of the arms of the latter arevaried on rotating, in the manner described with reference to thediagram in Fig. 7 The modus operandi is as follows. When for example theteat plates connected with the arms 51 and 52 are subjected to unequalpressures the lever 55 rotates about its pivot 56 until equilibrium isestablished. The lever 60, in the same manner as the link 22 in Figs. 1and 2 or the lever 48 in Fig. 4, takes up the total pressure acting onthe four teat plates.

The embodimentshown in Flg. 6 differs from that shown in Fig. 5 only inthe arrangement of the levers which connect thep arms 51, 52, 53 and 5tin pairs. Instead of the levers 55 and 58 as shown in Fig. 5 a doublearmed lever 68 or 64: is arranged on the lower side of the arm 52 and onthe upper side of the arm 54. The lever 63 connects the arms 51, 52 withone another and the pivot 65 of this lever is secured in an armextending from the intermediate disk 57, while the arms '53 and 54 areconnected with one another by the lever 64, the pivot 67 of which issecured in an arm 68 extending from the intermediate disk 59. The twointermediate disks 57 and 59 may be connected with one another in thesame manner as in Fig. 5, that is, by a double armed lever, the pivot ofwhich is secured in an intermediate disk 61 provided with an arm 62.

It is evident that a number of other forms may come within theinvention. Those illustrated above, however, suflice to explain it. 4

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by,Let ters Patent is:

1. A milking machine comprising adjustable plates, means forcotiperating with said plates to compress teats, and means connectedwith the plates for moving one by the other, whereby when a thick teatis opposed to one plate and a thinner teat is op posed to the otherplate the teats will be compressed with amounts of pressurecorresponding to their thicknesses.

2. A milking machine comprising adjustable plates, means forcoiiperating with said plates to compress teats, means connecting theplates in pairs for moving one plate of each pair by the other plate ofsaid pair,

whereby when a thick teat is opposed to one late of a pair and a thinnerteat is opposed to the other plate of said pair the teats will becompressed with amounts of pressure corresponding to their thicknesses,and means connected with the plate-connecting means and through themedium of which the plates can be simultaneously moved into operativeposition and simultaneously moved outof operative position.

3. A milking machine comprising adjustable plates, means forcotiperating with said plates to compress teats, and valuable-leveragemeans connected with the plates for moving one by the other, wherebywhen a thick teat is opposed to one plate and a thinner teat is opposedto the other plate,.

the movement of one plate by the other will stop when the pressures onthe two plates balance one another.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signedmy name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

DAVID ALFVEN.

Witnesses:

ENID DELMAR, JOHN DELMAR.

